By Indra Setia Dewi
Indonesia’s forests are the third largest forest area in the world after Brazil, with an area of 120 million hectares with invaluable biodiversity and high value of timber and non-timber forest products. Advocating for Motion 37 which may have a great impact on the future of sustainable forestry is a central concern for Indonesian members who organized the side event “Expanding FSC Certified Forest in Indonesia”.
For Indonesia, where a large part of both company and smallholder forest plantations were established after 1994, the cut-off date of 1994 makes the likelihood of gaining FSC certification very small. Motion 37 proposes to change the cut-off date to December 31, 2020. In addition, the Remedy Framework outlines what it takes for companies to (re)enter the FSC system and be eligible for certification and/ or membership after direct or indirect involvement in unacceptable activities and how FSC can assess the eligibility of such companies.
The Remedy Framework would restore degraded forests and also improve the responsibility of forest managers regarding the welfare of workers and community livelihood.
Motion 37 opens a window of opportunity for synergy with the government regarding the achievement of the FOLUNET Sink 2030 targets:
- Avoiding deforestation of up to 6.8 million hectares by 2030.
- Reducing forest degradation driven by excessive logging and encroachment of production forests and the expansion of protected forest areas in both production forests and other areas of use.
- Peatland protection and restoration.
- Accelerate reforestation of highly degraded land outside and within forest areas and urban revegetation.
For Indonesian members, as outlined by Purwadi Soeprihanto, Secretary General of Indonesia Forestry Association, "This is an opportunity to be able to establish cooperation with the Indonesian stakeholder by supporting the target of NDC and Net Sink FOLU 2030."
Ivone Satsuki Namikawa, FSC Board Member, Economic South closed the session with "FSC is not the only answer to the problems of forest in Indonesia. Although all parties have clear targets and statistics, we still cannot forget the biodiversity and community that we must protect. Motion 37 is not only in the interests of Indonesia but also for all forests in the world which have rich biodiversity and have the community dependent on the forest."
The session was moderated by Rulita Wijayaningdyah, FSC Member Social South. Speakers included Yando Zakaria, anthropologist and researcher from Ethnographic Studies of Indigenous People; Prof. Herry Purnomo, Senior Scientist of Faculty of Forestry of IPB University; Purwadi Soeprihanto, Secretary General of the Association of Indonesian Forest Concessionaires and FSC Economic South Chamber; Indroyono Susilo of Chairman of Communication Forum of Indonesian Forestry Society; IB Putera Parthama, FSC Member Environment South; and Ivone Satsuki Namikawa, FSC Board member Economic South.